vvl  • 


ALUMNI  LECTURE 


* * 


Stop  Uttaatmi  anil  iteaagp 
of  the  (Churrh 

BY 

Rev.  Samuel  C.  Bushnell 


AT  THE  NINTH  ANNNAL  CONVOCATION  OF 
ALUMNI  AND  MINISTERS  OF  CONNECTICUT 
AT  THE  YALE  SCHOOL  OF  RELIGION 


NEW  HAVEN,  CONNECTICUT 

MONDAY  EVENING,  APRIL  8,  1918 


MARQUAND  CHAPEL 


ALUMNI  LECTURE 


The  Mission  and  Message  of 
the  Church 


By  REV.  SAMUEL  C.  BUSHNELL 


No  one  who  is  interested  in  the  work  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  can  be  satisfied  either  with  its  past 
achievements  or  its  present  condition.  Not  that  great 
things  have  not  been  accomplished  but  that  far  greater 
ones  ought  to  have  been  accomplished  in  1900  years. 

We  do  not  forget  that  Jesus  likened  the  growth  of 
his  kingdom  to  leaven  in  the  meal — a process  by  which 
each  particle  would  be  transformed,  and  become  an 
active  agent  in  the  transformation  of  other  particles 
until  the  whole  was  leavened. 

This  implies  a vast  number  of  individuals,  and 
long  reaches  of  time,  since  individuals,  unlike  the 
passive  particles  of  meal,  were  capable  of  resistance, 
and  might  not  consent  to  transmit  the  power  even 
if  they  yielded  to  it  themselves.  In  a multitude  of 
cases  they  do  not.  The  transformation  ceases  with 
them  because  they  care  less  about  giving  than  re- 
ceiving. They  are  satisfied  if  they  can  make  their  own 
calling  and  election  sure,  little  realizing  how  far  from 
sure  it  is ! The  world  is  full  of  quitters  “dead  ends,’’ 
because  the  current  does  not  get  by  them.  The  truth 
is  they  are  not  wholly  transformed,  or  the  current 


would  get  by.  This  is  why  the  kingdom  of  God  ad- 
vances so  slowly.  But  too  often  the  Gospel  has  been 
so  presented  as  to  make  salvation  seem  a purely  per- 
sonal matter,  to  be  had  and  held  by  the  individual,  re- 
gardless of  his  relations  to  anyone  else. 

Yet  Jesus  dared  to  attempt  the  most  gigantic  task 
ever  conceived  of,  the  redemption  of  the  world  from 
sin,  including  every  form  of  selfishness,  the  emancipa- 
tion of  each  soul  from  bondage,  its  advancement  in 
holiness,  and  its  final  and  complete  self-realization. 
Nothing  less  than  this  would  satisfy  either  his  mind  or 
his  heart.  He  wanted  the  best  possible  thing  for  every- 
body. 

If  this  achievement  was  at  first  associated  with  the 
idea  of  the  early  return  of  Jesus  it  is  not  strange  that 
that  expectation  should  soon  fade  away.  If  the  gos- 
pel was  to  be  preached  to  all  nations,  and  the  work 
continued  “Until  every  knee  should  bow,  and  every 
tongue  confess  Jesus  as  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father,”  many  centuries  must  pass  before  the  end 
sought  could  be  realized,  jf  that  end  depended  upon 
the  co-operation  of  men. 

Now  it  is  perfectly  obvious  to  us  that  Jesus’  great 
aim  of  bringing  all  men  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
could  not  be  accomplished  by  any  single  instrumen- 
tality. As  a matter  of  fact  there  are  many  agencies 
by  which  the  object  is  being  promoted.  Yet  it  goes 
without  saying  that  the  chief  agency  is  the  Christian 
Church,  taken  as  whole.  Nb  other  organization  can 
compare  with  it,  nor  does  any  other  organization  so 
directly  attempt  it. 

Yet  at  the  very  outset  we  must  distinguish  between 
the  Church  as  a means  and  the  Kingdom  of  God  as 
an  end!  Jesus  had  little  or  nothing  to  say  about 
“Church,”  but  the  “Kingdom”  was  forever  on  his  lips 
and  in  his  heart.  Only  twice  do  we  find  any  reference 


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to  the  Church  in  the  Gospels  “Go  tell  it  to  the 
Church,”  and  “On  this  rock  will  I build  my  Church,’’ 
while  there  are  nearly  a hundred  references  to  the 
“Kingdom.” 

Yet  men  have  so  greatly  misunderstood  Jesus  as  to 
have  identified  the  means  with  the  end,  giving  the 
same  meaning  to  both  terms,  fancying  that  the  Church 
was  synonymous  with  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  be- 
lieving that  membership  in  one  was  a guarantee  of 
membership  in  the  other. 

And  so  we  have  the  familiar  hymn — 

“I  love  Thy  Kingdom  Lord, 

The  house  of  Thine  abode, 

The  Church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved 
With  his  own  precious  blood.” 

As  if  the  Church  and  the  Kingdom  were  the  same 
thing,  and  once  a member  of  the  Church  one’s  status 
were  complete,  and  nothing  remained  but  to  build  up 
the  Church,  as  if  that  were  an  end  in  itself,  instead  of 
an  agency  by  and  through  which  a greater  thing  would 
be  brought  into  existence. 

The  Church  and  the  Kingdom  have  indeed,  things 
in  common,  yet  as  an  organization  the  Church  is  a 
temporary  affair,  no  matter  how  long  it  lasts,  and  will 
be  entirely  dispensed  with  when  the  Kingdom  of  God 
has  been  established. 

“I  saw  no  temple  therein,”  says  the  author  of  the 
Book  of  Revelation,  “for  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and 
the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it.”  The  relation  of  the 
Church  to  the  Kingdom  is  that  of  John  the  Baptist  to 
Jesus.  “He  must  increase,”  said  John,  “but  I must 
decrease.”  And  the  Church  must  decrease  to  the  van- 
ishing point  by  and  by.  But  that  will  be  its  glory,  to 
make  way  for  something  better.  Yet  multitudes  have 
regarded  the  Church  as  permanent,  and  worked  for 


3 


their  branch  of  it  as  if  they  were  building  up  some- 
thing which  would  endure  forever,  magnifying  an  in- 
stitution instead  of  using  it  as  an  agency  for  bringing 
in  the  Kingdom. 

How  infinitely  pathetic  is  the  sight  of  those,  who  in 
a sense,  have  labored  in  vain,  spending  their  strength 
in  the  interest  of  their  ecclesiastical  leaders,  who  have 
used  them  for  their  own  glory  instead  of  showing 
them  what  great  things  they  might  have  done  for 
themselves,  and  for  others,  had  they  wrought  in  the 
Church  for  the  Kingdom. 

One  recalls  the  words  of  the  young  Abbott  in 
Kingsley’s  “Hypatia.”  who  stopped  by  stern  rebuke 
any  attempt  to  revile  either  heretic  or  heathen,  saying, 
“On  the  Catholic  Church  alone,  lies  the  blame  of  all 
heresy  and  unbelief,  for  if  she  were  but  for  one  day 
what  she  ought  to  be,  the  world  would  be  converted 
before  nightfall.”  This,  of  course,  is  an  extravagant 
statement.  Yet  it  shows  very  clearly  how  men  may 
blunder  in  magnifying  an  agency  instead  of  using  it 
for  the  benefit  of  others.  Another  quotation  from 
“Hypatia”  might  be  added — the  Warning  to  Cyril  of 
Alexandria:  “I  advise  you  take  care  lest  while  you  are 
busy  trying  to  establish  God’s  Kingdom,  you  forget 
what  it  is  like,  by  shutting  your  eyes  to  those  of  its 
laws  which  are  established  already.  I have  no  doubt 
that  with  your  holiness’  great  powers  you  will  suc- 
ceed in  establishing  something.  My  only  dread  is 
that  when  it  is  established  you  should  discover  to  your 
horror  that  it  is  the  devil’s  kingdom  and  not  God’s.” 

And  just  here  we  may  draw  attention  to  the  differ- 
ence in  the  requirements  for  membership  in  the  Church 
and  the  Kingdom ! 

To  join  the  Church  one  must  submit  to  baptism, 
and  assent  to  a creed,  formulated  by  others,  perhaps 
centuries  ago.  That  is,  there  is  a ritualistic  and  a 


4 


theological  prerequisite  to  membership  in  the  Church, 
which  is  not  required  for  membership  in  the  King- 
dom. Though  in  some  denominations  these  condi- 
tions are  not  insisted  upon,  and  in  others  the  re- 
quirement is  less  stringent  than  formerly.  Yet  multi- 
tudes have  thus  been  kept  out  of  the  Church  who 
undoubtedly  found  admission  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  This  has  meant  a serious  loss  to  the  Church 
by  denying  it  the  services  of  those  who  might  have 
rendered  great  assistance. 

The  failures  and  follies  of  the  Church  are  only  too 
obvious  and  many  there  be  who  love  to  dilate  upon 
them.  That,  however,  is  not  our  task,  nor  is  there 
any  need  of  railing  accusation.  For  the  Church  is 
no  worse  and  no  better  than  the  men  who  comprise  its 
membership.  We  of  the  present  are  not  responsible 
for  its  good  or  its  evil.  But  we  are  responsible  for  the 
use  which  we  make  of  it  as  an  agency  for  bringing  in 
the  kingdom  of  God, — provided  we  are  allowed  to  en- 
ter it  and  emphasize  this  as  its  chief  function. 

For  many  think  of  the  church  primarily  as  confer- 
ring benefits  upon  them  rather  than  affording  them 
the  means  of  conferring  the  same  kind  of  benefits 
upon  others.  Both  results  should  be  accomplished, 
getting  and  giving.  Yet  when  one  only  receives  and 
neglects  to  give,  the  church  fails  in  its  efficiency,  so  far 
as  he  is  concerned,  since  the  test  of  its  value  will  ever 
be  found  in  the  willingness  of  its  members  to  work  for 
their  fellowmen.  The  command  of  Jesus  is  still  in 
force, — “Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.” 

If  the  church  is  not  doing  that  it  ought  to  be  able 
to  say  why  it  has  suspended  one  of  its  most  important 
activities,  and  furthermore,  explain  to  the  waiting 
world,  why  it  should  be  called  a “Church”,  instead  of  a 
“Club”  while  those  activities  are  suspended. 


5 


It  is  true,  that,  organized  as  it  is,  with  a history 
reaching  over  the  past,  it  may  accomplish  other  re- 
sults, but  they  should  be  secondary  to  this,  its  great 
mission,  of  bringing  in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  It  were 
impossible,  it  seems  to  me,  to  overestimate  this  point. 

Yet  some  will  tell  us  that  the  chief  function  of  the 
Church  is  to  safeguard  the  truth, — for  how  can  it  ac- 
complish its  mission  without  proclaiming  its  message? 

It  must,  indeed,  proclaim  the  truth,  and  must  know 
it  in  order  to  proclaim  it.  But  it  does  know  it,  and 
always  has  known  it.  The  essentials  of  its  message  are 
as  simple  as  the  mission  of  the  Church  itself. 

It  was  not  necessary  to  make  the  Church  the  cus- 
todian of  all  truth  in  order  to  create  an  agency  for 
the  dissemination  of  some  truth. 

As  an  agency  for  bringing  in  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
it  is  not  competent  for  the  very  different  task  it  has 
assumed  of  conserving  truth  in  general. 

If  that  were  its  function  it  has  lamentably  failed  in 
its  performance  since,  it  has  not,  and  could  not,  as  a 
whole,  keep  pace  with  modern  progress. 

It  is  too  conservative  for  that  high  task.  Much 
truth  knocks  at  its  door  in  vain.  It  is  timid  where  it 
should  be  bold  and  selfish  where  it  should  be  generous. 

For, 

“God  sends  His  teachers  unto  every  age, 

To  every  clime,  and  every  race  of  men, 

With  revelations  fitted  to  their  growth 

And  shape  of  mind,  nor  gives  the  realm  of  truth 

For  to  the  selfish  rule  of  one  sole  race.” 

The  Church  ought  to  recognize  the  service  rendered 
to  religion  by  other  faiths  than  its  own,  and  ought  as 
gladly  to  honor  the  men  who  anywhere  and  every- 
where have  widened  and  enriched  our  vision  of  life, 
giving  us  for  example,  in  the  philosophy  of  develop- 


6 


ment,  a better  understanding  of  the  Universe,  “il- 
luminating in  us  what  hitherto  was  dark.” 

Time  enough  has  passed  since  the  death  of  Darwin 
to  have  transformed  the  bogey  of  evolution  into  a bene- 
diction for  every  thoughtful  mind. 

There  is  no  organization  on  earth  which  is  compre- 
hensive enough  to  conserve  the  interests  of  truth  in 
general.  That  task  must  be  left  to  mankind  as  a whole. 
Every  organization  deals  with  some  truth,  no  organ- 
ization with  all  truth. 

It  is  because  the  Church  has  claimed  so  much  and 
accomplished  so  little  in  the  way  of  conserving  the 
truth  that  multitudes  of  most  excellent  people  have  held 
themselves  aloof.  And  these  people  are  not  irreligious. 
“On  the  contrary  judged  by  any  fair  test  of  life  they 
include  the  best  among  us.” 

Twenty  years  ago  John  Burroughs  said  that  these 
men  included  probably  four-fifths  of  the  literary  men 
of  this  country  and  Great  Britain ; a large  proportion 
of  journalists  and  editors;  half  the  lawyers;  a large 
percentage  of  the  teachers,  and  a larger  percentage 
of  business  men.” 

If  this  was  true  then  it  is  still  more  true  today. 
Galsworthy  tells  us  “that  not  one  Englishman  in  ten 
now  really  believes  that  he  is  going  to  live  again.” 

What  has  the  Church  done,  as  a conservator  of  the 
truth  to  combat  this  error? 

“Time  was,”  says  Dr.  McConnell,  “when  the  task 
of  the  Church  was  to  win  bad  men : now  the  task  is 
to  win  the  good  ones.”  But  it  can  neither  retain 
them,  nor  secure  others  from  the  outside  if  it  refuses 
to  adjust  itself  to  modern  thought,  and  clings  to  an- 
cient beliefs  and  forms  of  worship,  which  however 
useful  in  the  past,  do  not  satisfy  the  needs  of  the 
present. 

For  the  Church  is  not  a theological  Antiquarian  So- 
ciety, but  an  agency  in  the  hands  of  each  succeeding 


7 


generation  for  bringing  in  the  Kingdom  of  God, — and 
that  object  must  ever  be  kept  in  view. 

It  is  a perversion  of  its  function  to  magnify  dogma, 
and  insist  that  they  only  can  use  the  Church  as  an  in- 
strument of  service  who  accept  its  ancient  theology. 

The  only  alternative  to  such  narrowness  would  be 
the  creation  of  one  more  denomination  in  which  the 
conditions  of  membership  should  be  the  same  as  those 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God ! 

The  function  of  the  Church  is  not  to  emphasize 
dogma,  whether  old  or  new,  but  to  make  God  real  to 
the  mind  and  heart  of  man,  not  merely  as  an  object 
of  thought,  but  as  a personal  friend  and  helper,  and 
through  faith  in  Him  to  interest  men  in  their  own  and 
each  others  spiritual  development,  in  comparison  with 
which  everything  else  in  which  man  is  engaged,  how- 
ever important,  is  relatively  insignificant. 

Rightly  understood  the  work  of  the  Church  is  so 
vital  to  the  welfare  of  man  that  no  effort  should  be 
spared  to  win  the  largest  possible  co-operation.  They 
who  have  that  work  at  heart  ought  to  be  willing  to 
make  almost  any  concessions  in  order  to  bring  other- 
wise like  minded  people  together  for  a common  min- 
istry to  the  deepest  needs  of  man. 

For  what  is  more  important  for  anyone  than  to  know 
God,  and  do  His  will? 

It  is  here  that  we  touch  the  second  part  of  our  topic, 
“The  Mission  and  Message  of  the  Church.” 

If  its  mission  is  to  bring  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the 
question  is  How  will  it  accomplish  that  object? 

I am  not  particularly  concerned  about  defining  the 
Kingdom  of  God.”  We  shall  know  more  about  that 
by  and  by  when  we  are  prepared  for  its  enjoyment. 

It  is  enough  to  know  that  it  is  sure  of  realization 
because  God  is  behind  it, — God  and  man. 

It  will  be  a kind  of  spiritualized  democracy,  in  which 
every  man  will  come  to  his  own,  no  one  lording  it  over 


8 


his  brother,  but  each,  loving  and  being  loved,  shall  find 
no  difficulty  in  serving  and  being  served. 

The  important  question  for  us  now  is.  How  is  the 
Kingdom  being  realized?  And  the  answer  is, — First, 
by  making  the  Head  of  that  Kingdom,  the  Invisible 
God,  real  to  the  mind  and  heart  of  man,  showing  that 
God  can  exist  and  be  our  friend  even  if  He  be  obliged, 
on  our  account,  to  remain  in  the  background. 

Greatly  as  we  long,  at  times,  for  a demonstration 
of  the  reality  of  His  existence  He  cannot  give  it  with- 
out impairing  our  freedom. 

For  the  present,  at  least,  we  must  walk  by  faith,  or 
we  shall  develop  no  strength  of  our  own. 

If  it  be  hard  for  us  to  have  faith  in  an  Invisible 
God  it  is  matched  by  His  faith  in  our  ability  to  do  with- 
out a demonstration. 

Jesus  had  to  meet  the  same  test.  He  too  must  walk 
by  faith,  nor  could  He  better  reveal  God  to  us  than  by 
His  own  faith  in  man, — not  shrinking  from  any  suffer- 
ing which  came  to  him  in  the  performance  of  duty, 
but  going  the  whole  length  of  loyalty  even  unto  death, 
and  so  appealing  to  men  as  to  win  their  acceptance  of 
his  leadership. 

And  in  making  God  real  to  men  the  Church  does 
something  for  God  which  He  is  restrained  from  doing 
for  Himself,  since  He  must  ever  be  an  unobtrusive 
God. 

We  may  help  each  other  to  a faith  in  Him,  while  He 
can  at  present  do  nothing  to  compel  our  faith,  because 
that  would  spoil  everything. 

He  does,  indeed,  manifest  Himself  in  Nature,  and 
in  our  own  souls,  yet  He  does  not  obtrude  Himself 
upon  us  in  such  a way  as  to  compel  belief.  He  does 
not  come  to  us  as  to  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  garden  in 
the  cool  of  the  day. 

No  one  has  seen  God  at  any  time,  yet  this  is  the  high 
and  splendid  function  of  the  Church  to  make  the  In- 


9 


visible  God  real  to  man,  and  through  that  sense  of 
reality  to  make  His  character  and  will  dominant  so 
that  the  Kingdom  of  God  may  increasingly  be  realized. 

And  here  is  something  which  is  big  enough  to  com- 
mand the  interest  of  all  men,  no  matter  what  other  ob- 
jects may  engage  their  attention,  art,  science,  philoso- 
phy— or  any  other  pursuit.  Religion  should  be  every 
man's  supreme  interest. 

And  as  no  kingdom  can  exist  without  members  it 
would  seem  to  be  obvious  that  we,  who  are  subjects 
of  redemption,  and  who  call  God  our  Father  in  Hea- 
ven, should  constitute  the  membership  of  that  king- 
dom, which  already  is,  and  which  will  never  cease  to 
be. 

Now  nothing  is  harder  to  believe  than  that  God, 
whom  we  think  of  as  knowing  us  perfectly  could  be 
satisfied  to  be  incompletely  known  by  us,  as  He  must 
be  while  we  live  here  on  earth. 

We  may  never  know  Him  perfectly  but  a future  life 
is  clearly  necessary  not  only  to  our  further  develop- 
ment, but  in  order  that  God  may  more  fully  disclose 
Himself  to  His  own  children. 

For  He  never  could  be  satisfied  either  with  what  we 
are  today,  or  with  our  present  knowledge  of  Himself. 
He  must  have  an  infinite  yearning  not  only  to  be  under- 
stood by  us,  but  also  to  reproduce  Himself  in  us.  He 
cannot  be  satisfied  with  making  things,  worlds,  and 
their  contents. 

And  we  are  the  more  sure  of  this  because  the  defect 
of  our  knowledge  concerning  Him  relates  to  His  char- 
acter! For  we  have  been  dreadfully  misinformed  con- 
cerning Him. 

Only  a God  of  infinite  patience  could  tolerate  what 
has  been  thought  and  said  about  Himself  even  down  to 
the  present  time. 

We  have  been  told  all  manner  of  evil  things,  about 
Him, — that  He  was  partial,  jealous,  vindictive;  that 


10 


He  had  the  passions  of  men  like  the  Gods  of  the  Gre- 
cian mythology,  who  only  differed  from  men  in  being 
more  powerful,  that  is,  they  exercised  control  over 
others,  but  could  not  control  themselves. 

And  God  was  thought  of  as  imperfect,  defective, 
for  that  is  what  it  amounts  to,  if  what  we  have  been 
told  were  true,  namely,  that  He  had  assumed  such  an 
attitude  towards  men  as  required  the  death  of  Christ 
on  the  Cross  to  make  Him  gracious  and  forgiving.  But 
if  God  could  be  made  gracious  in  this  wray,  or  in  any 
way,  He  was  not  good  enough  already ! 

It  is  our  theology  which  is  in  fault  and  not  the  God 
of  all  goodness  and  grace,  of  inexhaustible  good  will 
for  all  mankind. 

Jesus  could  add  nothing  to,  nor  take  anything  from 
God.  He  could  only  reveal  Him  as  He  was. 

The  death  of  Jesus  was  essential  to  his  own  com- 
pleteness, but  not  in  any  sense  to  God’s  completeness. 
It  simply  showed  us  how  complete  God  was,  as  a lov- 
ing and  suffering  God.  For  God  was  in  Christ,  re- 
conciling the  world  unto  Himself. 

A friend  wrote  me  the  other  day  saying,  “We  owe 
everything  to  Jesus  Christ.”  My  reply  was  that  we 
owe  everything,  including  Jesus,  to  God  the  Father  Al- 
mighty. The  greatest  service  which  Jesus  rendered 
to  the  world  was  to  make  us  sure  of  God. 

And  the  message  of  the  Church  concerning  God  is 
that  He  is  real  and  gracious,  infinitely  attractive  be- 
cause He  expresses  in  Himself  all  that  it  is  possible  for 
man  ever  to  achieve. 

Take,  for  example,  a single  moral  quality — self  con- 
trol, which  stands  out  with  amazing  splendor  in  the 
character  of  God.  For  God  were  nothing  if  not  mas- 
ter of  Himself. 

Our  stability  depends  upon  His  inflexibility".  Know- 
ing what  we  do  of  Him,  and  of  His  relation  to  the 


11 


Universe,  we  should  be  filled  with  consternation  if  we 
knew  that  but  for  one  moment  He  had  relaxed  His 
demands  upon  Himself,  and  been  guilty  of  any  form  of 
self  indulgence. 

For  if  He  could  do  it  once  He  could  do  it  again,  in 
which  case  He  would  cease  to  be  God,  as  we  conceive 
Him,  and  we  would  cease  to  be  safe  from  Him ! 

We  should  be  in  jeopardy  every  hour,  nay  every 
moment.  Verily,  our  stability  does  depend  upon  His 
inflexibility. 

Yet  according  to  Grecian  mythology  the  Gods  were 
constantly  guilty  of  self  indulgence.  Read  your  Ho- 
mer again,  and  see  how  far  we  have  come  in  our 
thought  concerning  God  since  those  bad  days.  We  are 
secure  from  evil  except  the  evil  which  we  inflict  upon 
ourselves,  and  the  evil  which  is  incidental  to  a world 
like  this,  because  of  the  demands  which  God  is  able 
to  make  upon  Himself,  His  ability  to  resist  evil,  and 
persist  in  what  is  good. 

We  differ  from  God  because  we  are  in  the  process 
of  becoming,  while  He  has  already  arrived,  at  least 
in  the  sense  of  being  incapable  of  evil  or  folly. 

There  will  be  a constant  forthputting  of  energy  on 
His  part  and  therefore  an  eternal  progress  even  in 
God. 

We  have  only  just  begun  our  devlopment,  and  can 
hope  to  succeed  in  becoming  like  God  only  by  knowing 
what  God  is  like. 

Hence  the  importance  of  right  ideas  concerning 
Him.  Surely  nothing  is  more  important  for  man  than 
that  he  should  know  God. 

This  constitutes  the  supreme  advantage  which  Jesus 
had  over  other  men.  He  had  acquired  such  knowledge 
of  God  through  the  obediance  of  faith  that  he  was 
incalculably  rich  in  spite  of  what  he  lacked  in  other 
respects,  material  posessions  and  the  like. 


12 


The  rich  young  man  who  turned  away  from  Jesus 
because  he  could  not  relinquish  his  wealth  was  piti- 
fully poor  in  comparison,  dependent  upon  his  shekels 
when  he  might  have  had  the  companionship  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

This,  then,  is  the  first  item  with  the  message  of  the 
Church, — that  God  is,  and  that  He  is  good  and  great; 
that  He  is  adequate  to  all  that  He  undertakes,  that  He 
has  a purpose  of  grace  in  connection  with  the  devel 
opment  of  His  children,  which  though  requiring  their 
co-operation  cannot  be  defeated  because,  sooner  or 
later,  their  co-operation  will  be  obtained. 

“Nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet; 

Not  one  life  shall  be  destroyed, 

Or  cast  as  rubbish  to  the  void, 

W hen  God  hath  made  the  pile  complete.” 

W’e  may  not  solve  the  mystery  of  foreordination  and 
freewill,  yet  no  one  can  believe  that  God  would  start 
something  which  He  could  not  finish. 

There  was  one  unforgettable  lecture  of  Professor 
Fisher’s  in  this  Seminary  forty  years  ago  in  which  he 
demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of  my  classmates  that 
there  was  no  causal  efficiency  in  fore-knowledge : that 
God’s  knowledge  of  how  we  would  act  did  not  inter- 
fere with  our  freedom. 

W’e  could  do  as  we  pleased  in  the  exercise  of  that 
freedom,  yet  we  could  not  escape  the  consequences 
of  our  acts,  and  in  the  long  run  God  would  triumph  by 
virtue  of  our  consent  and  co-operation.  He  knew  this 
in  advance,  but  His  knowledge  did  not  interfere  with 
our  freedom.  Our  freedom  was  real,  and  though 
grossly  misused,  would  ultimately  lead  us  to  choose 
the  right. 

A second  item  in  the  message  of  the  Church  is 
the  obligation  which  man  owes  to  his  fellowman,  which 


13 


has  been  disregarded  on  such  a gigantic  scale  in  this 
present  war. 

The  obligation  is  as  old  as  Man  himself.  For  each 
man  is  his  brother’s  keeper.  No  man  lives  unto  him- 
self, or  can,  if  he  lives  normally. 

Yet  it  is  abnormal  living,  or  the  neglect  of  what  we 
owe  to  each  other  that  causes  all  our  woe.  And  at  this 
point  the  Church,  in  its  organized  capacity,  terribly 
failed  at  this  present  struggle  by  uttering  no  protest, 
holding  up  no  ideal,  but  giving  the  impression  that  it 
had  no  program,  and  was  neutral  even  in  thought. 

Individuals,  both  ministers  and  laymen,  did  protest. 
Indeed  it  were  but  true  to  say  that  the  moral  sense  of 
the  nation  was  shocked,  outraged  by  the  invasion  of 
Belgium  and  the  outrages  which  followed.  But  the 
Church,  in  its  organized  capacity,  gave  no  sign.  It  ut- 
tered no  challenge,  but  stood  by  marking  time  while 
millions  of  men  flung  themselves  in  mad  violence 
against  each  other,  in  blind  disregard  of  what  they 
owed  to  one  another. 

It  was  a resort  to  force  to  accomplish  what  from  the 
standpoint  of  Christianity  was  hideously  and  villain- 
ously wrong. 

It  came  to  pass  because  those  who  claimed  the  right 
to  rule  were  themselves  lacking  at  the  very  quality  of 
self-control,  which,  had  they  possessed  it,  would  have 
made  them  willing  to  serve  their  weaker  brethren  rath- 
er than  conquer  and  rule  them. 

Had  the  Church  kept  sounding  in  men's  ears  their 
obligation  to  love  and  serve  each  other,  to  promote  in 
every  possible  way  the  general  welfare,  by  the  exten- 
sion of  education,  the  exercise  of  social  justice,  its  con- 
science, at  least,  would  have  been  clear  and  its  influence 
enormous. 

But  apparently  the  duty  of  man  to  man  was  too  ob- 
vious for  frequent  repetition,  and  the  Church  con- 


14 


ccrned  itself  with  its  own  affairs,  when  it  was  not  the 
ally  of  the  party  in  power,  as  in  Germany. 

It  went  on  emphasizing  its  right  to  existence  in  its 
divided  condition,  Protestantism  broken  up  into  frag- 
ments, each  as  good  or  as  bad  as  the  other;  the  evan- 
gelicals pointing  the  finger  of  scorn  at  the  others  ; Cath- 
olics saying  that  there  was  no  salvation  for  Protes- 
tants: all  bodies  alike  ignoring  what  they  owed  of 
sympathy  and  good  will  to  each  other  as  separate 
groups  of  fellowmen,  who  talked  about  theology  in- 
stead of  practising  religion. 

What  wonder  that  the  outsider  should  say  with 
scorn,  What  fools  these  Christians  be! 

Once,  in  an  age  of  persecution  it  was  said,  How 
these  Christians  love  each  other ! 

That  could  not  be  said  today  in  the  divided  condi- 
tion of  the  Church. 

Nor  can  men,  so  lacking  in  sympathy  for  one  an- 
other, so  intent  upon  their  individual  rights,  effectively 
use  their  own  organization  as  an  instrument  for  bring- 
ing in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Yet  right  here  the  Church  could  find  the  greatest 
opportunity  which  it  has  had  since  the  Reformation. 
For  if  the  world  can  unite  in  vast  federations,  millions 
of  men  of  different  races  and  nations  fighting  for  the 
liberty  of  man,  why  cannot  the  Churches  of  our  land 
find  a basis  of  unity,  and  a fellowship  of  spirit  in  which 
to  conduct  their  common  work? 

How  significant  it  is  that  such  multitudes  of  men, — 
with  no  formal  connection  with  the  Christian  Church — 
should  yet  have  been  equal  to  the  supreme  sacrifice, 
not  counting  their  lives  as  precious  in  their  own  sight, 
— nor  staggered  by  the  experience  of  appalling  suffer- 
ing. 

How  is  the  Church  to  relate  itself  to  those,  outside 
of  its  membership,  who  yet  measure  up  to  the  most 
exacting  standards? 


15 


Surety  it  has  not  wrought  in  vain  when  so  many 
testify  by  their  lives  to  what  the  Church  has  proclaimed 
as  essential  in  conduct. 

But  if  men  outside  of  the  Church  are  ready  to  make 
such  heroic  sacrifices,  what  guarantee  will  the  Church 
give  that  she  is  worthy  of  her  own  high  calling? 

What  sacrifices  will  she  make  in  order  to  be  worthy 
of  the  Gospel  she  proclaims? 

A third  item  in  the  message  of  the  Church  is  faith 
in  the  life  everlasting. 

For  if  what  Mr.  Galsworthy  says  is  true  even  of  the 
Englishmen  of  his  acquaintance,  that  not  one  man  in 
ten  really  believes  that  he  will  live  again,  it  is  high 
time  for  the  Church  to  give  the  reason  for  its  faith  in 
this  article  of  its  Creed. 

For  it  makes  an  immense  difference  to  a man 
whether  he  believes  that  he  is  going  to  the  scrapheap 
or  to  his  father’s  house. 

No  small  share  of  the  immense  slaughter  of  this 
war  has  been  due  to  the  supposed  worthlessness  of 
multitudes  of  lives,  which  were  thought  to  be  of  no 
account  to  God  or  man. 

And,  indeed,  if  death  ends  all, — why  should  men 
consent  to  live  in  misery,  as  millions  of  men  are  obliged 
to  today?  If  the  house  smokes  why  stay  in  it — and 
choke  ? 

But  if  life  reaches  beyond  death, — and  continues 
forever  because  God  has  a purpose  of  grace  for  all  of 
His  children  it  is  highly  important  for  us  to  know  it, — 
at  any  rate,  to  believe  it. 

Not  that  the  reality  of  the  future  life  depends  upon 
one’s  belief  in  that  possibility.  For  someone  might  be 
planning  to  leave  you  a fortune  the  enjoyment  of 
which,  when  it  came,  would  not  in  the  least  depend 
upon  your  anticipation  of  it, — yet  if  you  knew  that  it 
were  coming  the  prospect  of  its  enjoyment  would 
greatly  influence  your  life  today. 


16 


Moreover,  if  life  goes  on  forever,  and  no  one  can 
possibly  escape  from  himself,  it  is  a matter  of  primary 
importance  for  everyone  to  decide  what  sort  of  a man 
he  will  be. 

If  Judas  Iscariot  could  not  endure  the  thought  of 
living  after  he  had  betrayed  his  Lord,  and  at  the  same 
time  could  not  escape  living  on  the  other  side  of  death, 
the  problem  for  him  was  not  the  one  he  tried  to  meet 
by  going  out  and  hanging  himself,  but  by  making 
amends  for  the  awful  blunder  he  had  made,  and  there- 
by adjusting  bintself  to  the  life  which  was  sure  to  go 
on  both  here  and  hereafter! 

He  confessed  his  fault  to  the  high  priest,  when  he 
threw  down  the  silver  and  said  I have  sinned  in  that 
1 have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood.  But  he  made  his 
confession  to  the  wrong  party! 

Yet  sooner  or  later  everyone  must  confess  his  short 
comings.  For  it  is  simply  a question  of  fact  whether 
he  has  used  his  freedom  as  he  should,  or  has  misused 
it. 

The  misuse  of  one’s  freedom  constitutes  one’s  pun- 
ishment, and  necessitates  a future  life,  since  more  time 
is  needed  both  for  punishment  and  for  restoration  than 
is  supplied  within  the  brief  limits  of  an  earthly  life. 

The  heart  cries  out  for  vengeance  against  those 
who  were  responsible  for  the  measureless  sufferings  of 
this  awful  war.  That  is  God’s  problem. 

“Vengeance  is  mine,” 

“I  will  repay” — saith  the  Lord. 

There  is  a lot  of  comfort  in  that  last  phrase,  I will 
repay. 

Yet  something  more  is  needed  than  punishment. 
God’s  ultimate  problem  is  restoration.  For  evil  can 
never  be  conquered  by  punishment  alone.  Might  does 
not  make  right  either  in  God  or  man. 


17 


Force  will  finally  be  on  the  side  of  right  because  the 
time  must  come  when  no  one  will  choose  to  use  force 
tor  what  is  wrong. 

Some  would  tell  us  that  God  can  suppress  evil  by- 
force  alone,  that  is,  by  superior  force,  crushing  life 
out  of  the  evil  doer  as  a Prussianized  Germany  seeks 
to  destroy  the  freedom  of  mankind. 

But  that  would  be  a defeat  for  God  rather  than  an 
overthrow  of  wickedness ! He  must  accomplish  His 
object  in  some  other  way,  because  wickedness  is  per- 
sonal to  the  individual.  It  is  part  of  his  mind  and 
heart  and  will. 

It  is  seated  within  the  man.  And  God’s  problem  is 
to  get  rid  of  the  evil, — punishing  it  indeed,  but  sav- 
ing the  man ! 

He  can  only  do  that  by  inducing  the  man  to  change 
his  attitude  towards  evil,  repudiating  it  altogether, 
loathing  it,  and  wondering  how  he  could  ever  have 
been  such  a fool  as  to  have  been  duped  and  deceived 
by  it ! 

Hating  evil,  as  we  do,  when  we  suffer  from  it  at 
the  hands  of  others — as  we  are  suffering  now — we 
cry  out  to  God  against  it,  and  wish  that  He  would  ex- 
terminate the  evil  doers  root  and  branch,  forgetting 
that  we  are  evil  doers  ourselves,  that  no  one  is  right- 
eous no  not  one.  If  God  needs  more  time  than  this 
life  affords  for  eliminating  evil  from  the  “best  of  us” 
He  certainly  needs  more  time  for  the  elimination  of 
evil  from  the  “worst  of  us”,  nor  can  He  ever  be  satis- 
fied in  a universe  of  free  moral  agents,  until  every  last 
one  of  them  repudiates  everything  which  is  vil,  and 
seeks  only  that  which  is  good. 

A future  life,  therefore,  is  necessary  for  the  con- 
tinuing development  of  our  souls  in  order  th'  t God’s 
gracious  purpose  may  be  realized. 

If  in  this  life  we  live  and  learn  we  shall  keep  up  the 
process  in  the  life  to  come,  until  at  length  w shall  be 


18 


such  masters  of  ourselves  that  we  shall  live  wholly  ac- 
cording to  reason  and  to  love. 

Why,  then,  not  begin  at  once,  and  why  should  not 
the  Christian  Church  address  itself  to  the  supreme 
task  of  helping  men  to  accomplish  this  result  ? 

It  can  do  so, — first  by  making  God  real,  second,  by 
making  men  understand  their  relationship  to  each 
other,  and  their  infinite  value  in  the  Sight  of  God  ; 
third,  by  assuring  them  that  the  life  which  begins 
here  in  the  flesh  goes  on  forever  with  no  escape  from 
the  obligation  of  living  it  worthily. 

God,  brotherhood  and  unmortality  are  the  three 
great  realities  which  present  themselves  to  the  mind 
of  man. 

If  the  Church  will  utter  itself  as  it  can  and  should 
concerning  these  realities  it  will  do  its  part  in  prepar- 
ing mankind  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which,  begin- 
ning on  earth,  will  find  its  ever  enlarging  develop- 
ment in  the  life  which  is  to  come. 

And  if  the  life  here  is  only  the  prelude  to  that  age- 
long and  infinite  career,  the  Church,  having  performed 
its  task,  can  well  rejoice  that  its  work  is  over,  because 
a bigger  and  better  thing  shall  have  come  to  pass. 


19 


KINGSTON  PRESS 
Boston,  Mass. 


